American Air Mishaps Spur Federal Review

[sunlitpath]

These "Major Airline", pilots may need additional training. Congress needs to take a look at them.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704876104574632493767660078.html

 

[CX880]

We need the 200 hour wonders back, it wasn't like this before.

 

[Jar Jar]

if I was a senior citizen I would retire.

 

[mynameisjim]

Same article through Google News can read it all

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704876104574632493767660078.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

 

[sayrejm]

do yall read the comments section on these article's you post. very interesting...

 

[MALSR]

Damn regional pilots.

 

[wlacy]

These poor old grandpa's are just trying to earn their retirements back so lets either cut them some slack or show them some sympathy and compassion. In my opinion they shouldn't be earning it in a cockpit so get the F out.

 

[Abernathy]

do yall read the comments section on these article's you post. very interesting...

This one's good:

• Recently my wife and I were flying home on American Airlines, from Dallas (DFW) into Orange County (SNA). Normal landing procedures at John Wayne airport route all inbound flights (southbound), crossing just above the 405 Freeway before touchdown.
  
  This time was different. As we flew over the freeway, I noticed that we were extremely high, in fact so high that I was sure the pilot would pull up, and go around for another landing attempt. Instead, he proceeded to put the aircraft down, but not until the plane was “even” with the end of the terminal (runway half-way point). He then hit the brakes, reverse thrusters (and whatever else was available)…it seemed as though the plane was going to do a headstand. Finally we stopped, and taxied to the gate.
  
  And here’s the interesting part: while gathering up our gear, and listening to other passengers express their concerns about the landing, I held back for a few minutes in hopes of chatting with the flight crew. Because the cockpit door continued to remain closed, I asked a flight attendant for the name of the captain and copilot. She politely declined, saying that I’d have to ask the AA employee at the gate.
  
  As the gate person started to assist me, the first officer came running up the ramp, asking what I wanted. I explained that, “in my opinion” it was a very unsafe landing, so could I please have the names of the flight crew. He became belligerent, demanding to know what “my qualifications were”. The captain next appeared, with the same defensive attitude; also refusing to give me his name or employee number. I also inquired about the procedures on how to report my concerns. No cooperation at all, just “…you have no idea what you’re talking about…”
  
  Further attempts to contact American Airlines resulted in zero response. After my recent experience, I’m not surprised that AA continues to have these landing incidents. If anyone out there knows how or where to report these type of things, please advise. "
  

 

[Flyer1015]

These "Major Airline", pilots may need additional training. Congress needs to take a look at them.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704876104574632493767660078.html

Yes, well, the difference is that the majors have bent some metal, not plow it nose first into a ground as regionals have, when you look at the last decade. The last major/legacy crash with significant loss of life was 2001 with the AA out of JFK. Since then, the regionls have "410ed it" , took off on the wrong runway, and stalled straight into the ground, killing everyone onboard for most of those flights.

The stats speak for themselves. Some 200-600 hr wonders made it fine, but many are downright scary. The type of crash Colgan was, was just a matter of time. Low inexperienced and incompetent (as measured by checkride and PC failure rate) carried through and unable to recover from perhaps the most simplest of practiced moves in a private pilot curriculum: a simple aerodynamic stall. Numbers speak for themselves. I will not say major pilots are perfect, there is no such thing as a perfect pilot. But when you look at major crashes since 2000 and regional crashes since 2000, there is a very bad trend for regionals. A combination of inexperience and the fact that same people just can't fly worth sh*t.

 

[Yuppyguppy]

Yep... meanwhile let's outsource more flying to the the regionals...what a great plan

 

[SEVEN]

Yes, well, the difference is that the majors have bent some metal, not plow it nose first into a ground as regionals have, when you look at the last decade. The last major/legacy crash with significant loss of life was 2001 with the AA out of JFK. Since then, the regionls have "410ed it" , took off on the wrong runway, and stalled straight into the ground, killing everyone onboard for most of those flights.

The stats speak for themselves. Some 200-600 hr wonders made it fine, but many are downright scary. The type of crash Colgan was, was just a matter of time. Low inexperienced and incompetent (as measured by checkride and PC failure rate) carried through and unable to recover from perhaps the most simplest of practiced moves in a private pilot curriculum: a simple aerodynamic stall. Numbers speak for themselves. I will not say major pilots are perfect, there is no such thing as a perfect pilot. But when you look at major crashes since 2000 and regional crashes since 2000, there is a very bad trend for regionals. A combination of inexperience and the fact that same people just can't fly worth sh*t.

Well said. However, the latest trend of "mishaps" comes straight from mainline. Mistakes that did not end in fatalities, but sure could have. Let's focus on the issues at hand. The regionals and their pilot group are now getting dealt with by the FAA in response to the Colgan crash. The Feds are swarming not only at the SOC but in the airport's, the ramp areas and the flight deck for surprise inspections and observations. But the latest trend by mainline pilots is alarming and must be addressed, especially the American Airlines issues.
So, I agree with all your points on the regional pilots, but let's not sweep the mainline problems under the rug. There is obviously room for improvement at the mainline level to prevent and ensure those pilots are not landing heavy metal on taxiways, falling asleep (or trip trading on laptops), and making poor decisions like trying to force a landing in a thunderstorm.

 

[sunlitpath]

When one wide body jet crashes and kills 300 people on board, then the majors become worse than the regionals? Because then the major airlines will have killed more people than the regionals in the last ten years. Using death tolls from accidents is not the best way to factor the overall safety of the regional airlines. If death tolls are used exclusively for the purpose of evaluating overall safety, then ASA, Skywest, Republic, and other regional airlines have a perfect safety record: better than the majors over the past ten years.

 

[sunlitpath]

There seems to be a great deal of focus on the basic pilot skill of stall recovery. Landing and stopping on the runway (without breaking the airplane in three pieces) is also an important and basic pilot skill.